This Giving Tuesday, help ensure voters have the information they need to make confident, informed decisions. Donate now!
San Antonio Independent School District elections (2015)
2017 →
|
 |
Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links |
San Antonio Independent School District Bexar County, Texas ballot measures Local ballot measures, Texas |
 |
Three seats on the San Antonio Independent School District Board of Trustees were up for general election on May 9, 2015.
In the District 2 race, incumbent James Howard defeated challenger Jason Mims to win re-election. District 6 incumbent Olga Hernandez competed against three challengers: Jody Bayless, Scott Meltzer and David Soto. Hernandez won another term on the board. Incumbent Patti Radle ran unopposed and won in District 5.[1][2]
Radle participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. To read her responses, check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section.
About the district
San Antonio Independent School District is located in Bexar County, Texas. The county seat of Bexar County is San Antonio. Bexar County was home to an estimated 1,817,610 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] San Antonio Independent School District was the 15th-largest school district in Texas, serving 54,394 students during the 2011-2012 school year.[4]
Demographics
Bexar County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Texas in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 26.3 percent of Bexar County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 26.7 percent for the state as a whole. The median household income in Bexar County was $50,112, compared to $51,900 statewide. The poverty rate in Bexar County was 17.6 percent, which was the same rate for the entire state.[3]
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The San Antonio Board of Trustees consists of seven members elected by district to four-year terms. There was no primary election, and a general election took place on May 9, 2015. Three seats were on the ballot in May 2015.[6]
School board candidates submitted paperwork with the school district secretary by February 27, 2015. Each candidate must be at least 18 years old, a registered voter and a resident of the district for at least six months. Members filed two campaign finance reports with the district clerk prior to the election unless they did not receive or spend $500 during the campaign.[7]
Elections
2015
Candidates
District 2
- James Howard
- Incumbent
- Graduate, Prairie View A&M University
- Employee relations specialist
- Jason Mims
- Graduate, University of Notre Dame and the Naval Postgraduate School
- Founder and president, The MIMS Institute Fellows, Inc.
District 5
- Patti Radle
- Incumbent
- Graduate, Marquette University
District 6
- Olga Hernandez
- Incumbent
- Jody Bayless
- Scott Meltzer
- Graduate, Centre College
- Deputy director, 80/20 Foundation
- David Soto
Election results
District 2
| San Antonio Independent School District, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  James Howard Incumbent |
71.6% | 1,485 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jason Mims | 28.4% | 590 | |
| Total Votes | 2,075 | |||
| Source: Bexar County Clerk, "Joint City and School Election May 9, 2015: Official Results," accessed June 1, 2015 | ||||
District 5
Incumbent Patti Radle won re-election without opposition.
District 6
| San Antonio Independent School District, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Olga Hernandez Incumbent |
52.1% | 1,316 | |
| Nonpartisan | Scott Meltzer | 36.2% | 915 | |
| Nonpartisan | David Soto | 7% | 177 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jody Bayless | 4.7% | 120 | |
| Total Votes | 2,528 | |||
| Source: Bexar County Clerk, "Joint City and School Election May 9, 2015: Official Results," accessed June 1, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
Jason Mims and Scott Meltzer were endorsed by the San Antonio Express-News editorial board.[8] Meltzer was also endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio.[9]
James Howard and Olga Hernandez were endorsed by the San Antonio Alliance for Teachers and Support Personnel.[10]
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $39,253.06 and spent a total of $39,361.53 as of May 1, 2015, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.[11]
| Candidate | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| District 2 | |||
| James Howard | $5,845.00 | $7,080.00 | -$1,235.00 |
| Jason Mims | $10,098.06 | $9,987.16 | $110.90 |
| District 5 | |||
| Patti Radle | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| District 6 | |||
| Olga Hernandez | $6,500.00 | $6,215.34 | $284.66 |
| Jody Bayless | $0.00 | $152.80 | -$152.80 |
| Scott Meltzer | $16,810.00 | $15,926.23 | $883.77 |
| David Soto | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Texas school board candidates and officeholders must file semiannual reports, which were due on January 15, 2015, and July 15, 2015. In addition, candidates in contested elections were required to file 30-day and 8-day pre-election reports, unless the candidate chose modified reporting.[7]
Candidates in contested elections who did not intend to exceed $500 in contributions or expenditures, excepting filing fees, were eligible for modified reporting. If they exceeded the threshold before the 30th day prior to the election, candidates were required to submit the 30- and 8-day reports. If they exceeded the threshold after the 30th day prior to the election, they were required to file a report within 48 hours of exceeding the threshold and participate in regular reporting for the rest of the election cycle.[12]
What was at stake?
Issues in the district
Superintendent search
After Dr. Sylvester Perez announced his resignation in October 2014, district officials began the search for a new San Antonio ISD leader in November 2014. In April 2015, the field was narrowed to two candidates: Pedro Martinez, a superintendent for the Nevada Department of Education, and Scott R. Muri, deputy superintendent of academics for Fulton County Schools in Georgia.[13]
The board selected Martinez on May 4, 2015, following a special meeting held by the board. According to Board President Ed Garza, "Pedro’s qualifications, experience and personal narrative make him exceptionally qualified for this position and we could not be more pleased with this decision." Martinez was also the superintendent of Washoe County School District in Nevada, where he was credited with improving graduation rates and increasing the percentage of students who participated in AP exams. He was also chief financial officer of Chicago Public Schools.[13][14]
Martinez's contract was finalized at the board's May 11, 2015, meeting.[14]
Ballotpedia survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from incumbent Patti Radle and challenger Jody Bayless.
Top priorities
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Radle stated:
| “ | For the record, I am running for re-election and I am unopposed. I have been prioritizing academic improvement, character development, and significant increase in programming for the arts.[15] | ” |
| —Patti Radle (2015)[16] | ||
When asked what his top priority would be if elected, Bayless stated:
| “ | I have a vision. I have a vision that that one day, one day soon, all of the students, teachers and personnel involved in the education of our children, will have an educational passion that will impact them to get up in the morning and run to the school house and fest at the table of learning. How will that happen? When the needs of the students have become the focus and are being met, after all,,,,this institution is For the Children and For the Children it does exist.
|
” |
| —Jody Bayless (2015)[17] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Radle opted not to participate in this ranking, stating, "I did not rank the seven elements at the beginning of this survey. All of these things work hand-in-hand if we are going to be holistic about providing a well-balanced education for our students. They are all important and if one campus or area of the district is strong or weak in a certain discipline of study, or a certain need, then that is going to be the priority."[16] This table displays the candidates' rankings:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Texas. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Bayless' responses | Radle's responses | |
| Expanding arts education | |||
| Expanding career-technical education | |||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |||
| Improving college readiness | |||
| Closing the achievement gap | |||
| Improving education for special needs students | |||
| Expanding school choice options | |||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. Links to the candidates' responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the San Antonio Independent School District election in 2015:[7][18]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 29, 2014 | Deadline to post notice of candidate filing deadline |
| January 28, 2015 | First day to file for place on general election ballot |
| February 27, 2015 | Last day to file for place on general election ballot |
| March 4, 2015 | Last day to withdraw from ballot |
| March 10, 2015 | First day to apply for ballot by mail |
| April 9, 2015 | Last day for voter registration with county clerk |
| Campaign finance report due | |
| April 27, 2015 | First day of early voting |
| April 30, 2015 | Last day to apply for ballot by mail |
| May 1, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| May 5, 2015 | Last day of early voting |
| May 9, 2015 | Election Day |
| May 20, 2015 | Final day for canvassing of votes |
| July 15, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Texas elections, 2015
The election on May 9, 2015, shared the ballot with other municipal elections in Bexar County.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "San + Antonio + Independent + School + District + Texas"
See also
| San Antonio Independent School District | Texas | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
|
External links
- San Antonio Independent School District
- Bexar County Clerk
- Bexar County, Texas
- Texas Secretary of State
Footnotes
- ↑ San Antonio Independent School District, "Candidate Filings," accessed March 16, 2015
- ↑ Bexar County Clerk, "Joint City and School Election May 9, 2015: Unofficial Results," accessed May 9, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "Bexar County, Texas," accessed February 11, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed May 5, 2014
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Bexar County," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ San Antonio Independent School District, "Board of Trustees," February 4, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Texas Ethics Commission, "2015 Filing Schedule for Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ San Antonio Express-News, "Take the time to cast vote; here are our election picks," April 30, 2015
- ↑ Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio, "From Scott Meltzer, SAISD Board District 6 candidate," April 24, 2015
- ↑ San Antonio Express-News, "Two SAISD trustees defending seats in election," April 11, 2015
- ↑ San Antonio Independent School District, "Campaign Finance Reports for the May 2015 Election," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Guide for Candidates and Officeholders Who File with Local Filing Authorities," September 1, 2013
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 My San Antonio, "SAISD board selects two superintendent finalists," April 13, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 KOLO8, "San Antonio School District Selects Pedro Martinez," May 4, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Patti Radle's responses," April 21, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Jody Bayless responses," April 22, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Important 2015 Election Dates," accessed January 20, 2015
| 2015 San Antonio Independent School District Elections | |
| Bexar County, Texas | |
| Election date: | May 9, 2015 |
| Candidates: | District 2: Incumbent, James Howard • Jason Mims District 5: Incumbent, Patti Radle |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
